Moisture-proof packing.



R. V. COLLINS. MOISTURE PROOF PACKING. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 8, 1908.

908,647. Patented Jan. 5,1909.

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UNITED strATEs PATENT ormcn.

ROY V. COLLINS ,0 NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR. TO AMERICAN AUTOMATIC SWITCH COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

norsrzmn-rnoor PACKING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 5, 1909.

Application fil d February 8, 1908. Serial No. 414,856.

of the borough of Manhattan of the city of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Moisture-Proof Packing, of which the following is a specification,

drawings, forming a part hereof.

Where mechanism such as is employed in the electrical operation of railway switches, is located'in the ground adjacent to a switch, it is necessary to incase it carefully in a moisture proof box so'that it shall not become deranged through the infiltration of water or the penetration of dirt. As a general rule, such boxes are provided with a plunger which extends through one of the sides or ends thereof for the. purpose of transmitting to the switch the power or motion developed within the box. 'In such-an arrangement it is particularly difficult to so pack the plunger as to elfectively'keep out the moisture and dirt without at the same time interfering with the proper movements of the switch mechanism; and in any event such packing is difficult to keep tight and in a uniform condition about the plunger, with the result that it can hardly be said to afford such substantial protection to the mechanism inside the box as is desired.

In accordance with the present invention, the motion or ow'er is transmitted from the moisture proo box inclosing the mechanism to be protected, through the medium of a shaft which projects from said box; and a novelform of packing has been devised for the projecting end of the shaft to provide a perfectly water tight and dust proof seal.

The improvements will be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a plan view of a sufficient portion of thebox, with the improvements em bodied therein, to enable the invention to be understood, the cover of the box being removed, and, Fig; 2 is a'view partly in elevation and partly in vertical section.

The construction of the box itself is immaterial to the present invention; as illustrated in the drawing, only one end of the a box is 'shown, being indicated by the letter a, while the other end is broken off. At this end, a plunger, which in the present case formsa part of the core of an electro magnet and which as will be understood is reciprocated by the magnet, is indicated by the letter 1). It is operatively connected, through arms 0 above and below, with a shaft d,

'journaled at one end in the bottom of the box and with the other end projecting through an inner coverof the box which protects the switch mechanism. The arms 0 are pivoted to the plunger, 21' pin 0 extending through the free ends of said arms and the plunger for this purpose, and the otherends of said arms are made fast to the shaft 03, so 7 that as the plunger is reciprocated the shaft will be turned first in one direction and then in the other direction; The projecting end of the shaft is provided withan arm f the end of which is secured through a link 9 tothe switch indicated at h. This arm and link are, for convenience and simplicity in the installation of the switch, provided in a space between the inner cover and an outer cover to the box.

In the cover of the box around the pro- I jecting end of the shaft is formed a circular cup 2' and the shaft is provided with an annular flange is which extends downwardly into the cup (Fig. 2). When the switch mechanism is placed in operative position adjacent to a switch, the cup is filled half way up or more with quicksilver so that the lower end of the annular flange upon the shaft is immersed therein. In this way it will be obvious that a perfectly water-tight and dust-proof seal is formed which leaves the shaft absolutely free to transmit power ,to the switch It will be understood of course that the cup may be secured to the shaft and the projecting flange may be formed as a part of the box without departing from the invention and it will be obvious that other changes may be made in the construction shown and described without avoiding the spirit of the invention.

I claim as my invention The combination with an electric switch mechanism, of a box inclosin g 'said mechanism and having an inner and an outer cover, a shaft in operative relation with said,

mechanism and journaledinsaid box, said shaft having one endprojecting through the I inner cover into the space between the two 1 This specification signed and witnessed covers a cup formed in the inner cover this 3rd day of February, A. D., 1908. around the projecting end, of the shaft, an

annular flange extending into the cup and ROY I secured to the shaft, and a connecting arm Signed in the presence of in said space secured to the projecting end HOMER H. SNOW, of the shaft. l LUGIUS E. VARNEY. 

